We are here to offer support to families through home visits and community appointments as well as meetings in the school. We offer direct support with referrals to appropriate agencies, help with grant applications, form filling and assistance with liaising with statutory services e.g., social services. We also facilitate regular coffee mornings held here at Willow Dene, in addition to training and conversations with a range of external professionals and organisations. It’s a great opportunity for parents to chat and share information and experiences. We can be contacted by phone or email via the school. 

Vicky House – Family Support Advisor 

Vicky offers practical help and emotional support to families experiencing short or long-term difficulties, with the aim of empowering parents to address difficult situations, wide-ranging challenges, reduce problems and risks with a range of social and personal issues. These can range from benefit and grant applications to support around domestic abuse, bereavement, isolation and depression, debt or homelessness.  Vicky also facilitates the weekly ‘Speakeasy’ coffee morning. This is an opportunity for parents to find out what is available to them in an informal and familiar setting, ask questions and discover more about the many different services and how they might access them. Vicky organises wide ranging parent learning opportunities in school from specific school- led workshops, well-being opportunities and externally provided courses.   

Rebekah Forbes - Family Support Assistant

Rebekah provides essential support to families facing both immediate and ongoing challenges by offering practical and emotional support that empowers parents to confront a variety of issues while reducing the risks linked to social and personal difficulties. Her support addresses a broad spectrum of needs, including help with applications for benefits and grants, as well as guidance for those experiencing domestic violence, bereavement, social isolation, depression, financial hardship, or homelessness. Additionally, Rebekah hosts the weekly ‘Speakeasy’ coffee morning, which serves as a relaxed environment for parents to learn about available resources, ask questions, and explore the various services they can access. She also coordinates a diverse array of learning opportunities for parents within the school, ranging from targeted workshops led by school staff to well-being initiatives and courses offered by external providers. Referrals to the Family Support Team can be initiated through class teams or teachers.

Michele Flower – Health Support Advisor

Michele’s role supports families of children with health needs or those who need advice and support with health-related matters.  Michele can accompany parents to medical appointments, support families to make sure they have the equipment they need, liaise with other health professionals including GPs and hospitals as well as providing emotional support and time to talk.   

POST 19 TRANSITIONS

Many of our young people are Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) residents. In year 14, we complete the young person's annual review in the early part of the Autumn term. Following this, we support families to review and update their young person's EHCP to ensure it is relevant, current and a true reflection of them. This is vital for the consultation process as the Borough will consult with many post-19 destinations if education is identified as the preference in the annual review. Parent preference is considered during this process, which is led by the young person's borough. Willow Dene will support any requirements, communications and requests for potential education settings, alongside supporting families and young people to visit the different settings. This year we are additionally facilitating a pilot programme called ‘Launch-19’. This is a collaborative project with RBG and an exciting pilot which scaffolds the link between education and adult social care. The young people participating in this follow a bespoke timetable to enable the process towards their EHCP outcomes with the support of familiar Willow Dene staff. As the year progresses, we will gradually support a phased transfer to adult social care to ensure familiarity, confidence and recognition of future supporting adults for our young people. As part of this project, we are also trialling a highly supported internship model with one young person, whereby their focus is on both their EHCP outcomes and developing work skills in different contexts. Every young person within the Launch-19 pilot receives regular reviews with their families, the school, SEND and social care to ensure there is both evaluation and progression to future adult life beyond the support of Willow Dene.